“Dark quinces, green pistachios, yellow custard – spectacular. It’s like you’re in Provence.” You’ll need to begin this recipe a day ahead.
Slow-baked quince with saffron custard
Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for slow-baked quince with saffron custard by Mike McEnearney.
- 25 mins preparation
- 12 hrs 30 mins cooking
- Serves 8
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Ingredients
- 8 quince, unpeeled
- 750 gm caster sugar
- 3 cinnamon quills, coarsely broken
- 3 each star anise and cloves
- 2 vanilla beans, split, seeds scraped
- 2 white peppercorns
- To serve: coarsely chopped pistachios
Saffron custard
- 200 ml double cream
- ½ tsp saffron threads
- 4 egg yolks
- 40 gm caster sugar
- 1¼ tsp cornflour
- Pinch of finely grated nutmeg, or to taste
Method
Main
- 1Peel and halve quince, remove cores (reserve skin and cores) and place in acidulated water until required.
- 2Combine reserved peel and cores with sugar, spices and 2 litres water in a large saucepan, stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cook until ruby-coloured and infused (25-30 minutes), then strain (reserve syrup and solids separately).
- 3Preheat oven to 80C or lowest setting. Place quince in a deep roasting pan large enough to fit snugly in a single layer, then cover closely with a layer of muslin or baking paper. Pour over syrup, spread reserved skins and cores over the top, cover with a double layer of foil and roast until tender and rosy in colour (10-12 hours). Remove and discard foil, skin, cores and muslin.
- 4For saffron custard, bring cream and saffron to the simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, whisk yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl to combine. Add cream mixture, whisk to combine, then return to pan and stir continuously over low heat until mixture thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon (2-3 minutes). Strain into a bowl over ice, add nutmeg to taste and whisk occasionally until chilled. Serve with slow-baked quince and a little syrup, scattered with pistachios.
Notes
This recipe is from the July 2011 issue of .